54 EASY-CHAIR MEMORIES 



also, unhappily for me, I remembered and 

 believed the old quotation 



" Tender-handed stroke a nettle, 



It will sting you for your pains ; 

 Grasp it like a man of mettle, 

 And it soft as silk remains." 



Accordingly, full of excitement, I plunged my 

 hand into a great bunch of young nettles 

 and grasped them " like a man of mettle," 

 and I regretted it for many hours afterwards. 

 My fingers and the palm of my hand tingled 

 most disagreeably all through the night. No 

 longer will I put any faith in those often- 

 quoted lines. Let those who still believe in 

 the truth of them put their faith to the test 

 as I did. The next time I have to gather 

 nettles I will do as our housekeeper did when 

 she packed our fish she put gloves on. 



